


Wildest Dreams

by alnima



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Grimmy is a dick to Harry, Harry's confidence is low, M/M, Minor Lilo, Nerd Harry, Niall and Louis are mentioned at minimum
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-11
Updated: 2013-08-11
Packaged: 2017-12-23 02:59:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/921198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alnima/pseuds/alnima
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry is a nobody that works in the mail room. He can’t help but have a crush on the sexy new assistant, Zayn. </p><p>Inspired by Marcel!Harry and Veronica!Zayn (even though it’s pretty much still them)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Wildest Dreams

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don't know or own anyone. This work is my own and it is not featured on any other site, nor does anyone have my permission to repost it in its entirety. Thank you!!!

The day Harry’s life is changed starts off the same as any other day. He wakes up at six in the morning and trudges his way into the kitchen where he makes tea for him and his roommate, Liam. While he waits for the water to boil he pulls out whatever he thinks they should eat. And it’s the same as any other morning. He pulls out the food and makes the tea, two sugars in his and three in Liam’s. And Liam always wakes up when he’s dropping the last of the sugar in the cups. Liam thanks him and makes their food while Harry showers. It’s the same as any other morning, because as disgusting as it sounds Harry really loves his tea to be lukewarm and not hot.

When Harry finishes his shower he eats breakfast before he picks out his outfit for work. His outfits vary from day to day but that’s only because he can’t be seen in the same button up, sweater and tie. The people at work will talk, no more than they already do Harry thinks as he buttons up his teal dress shirt.

It’s 7:30 by the time Harry has finished his morning routine. And it’s 7:33 when Harry starts his car and begins his twenty-minute ride to work. Just like every other day.

Harry works at Horan Corporations; a man named Niall Horan runs it. Harry has never dared to call him by his first name. He’s been working there for seven years, seven long years inside of the mailroom. He applied three years ago for the position to be the IT guy, but he has yet to hear back about it. Mr. Horan had explained to him that a position transfer takes longer than the process for getting a new job.

It’s 7:53 when Harry pulls up to his parking place. It’s not actually his, all reserved spaces are for people with the highest paying jobs, but Harry parks in the same place everyday. It’s located in the south lot and is perfectly shaded by a large oak tree to keep his seats from getting too warm during the day.

He walks into the building and smiles at Clarke, the security guard, and makes his way up to the third floor where he spends most of his time. There are already bins of mail waiting for him along with various file folders with bright yellow post-it notes telling him whom they need to be delivered to and when.

The most important person to deliver files to is Mr. Horan. And he’s always the first person of the day that Harry visits. It’s 8:30 promptly when Harry enters the elevator to head up to the 28th floor. It’s the same as every other day.

Harry’s day goes just as planned, everything in routine order just like he likes until the moment his day truly begins, the moment where his day becomes unlike any other.

The elevator dings and he’s greeted by the same hallway as he usually is. There is only one office on the entire floor. It’s hidden behind a thick mahogany door; in front of the door is a desk that belongs to a secretary. It’s been vacant for two months; Mr. Horan has been extremely selective about who can occupy the chair outside of his office. Harry has seen interviewees leave the building in tears and he’s even heard screaming from inside his office as he places the files on the empty desk.

But when Harry goes to round the corner, he gasps because he sees a raven-haired boy sitting outside Mr. Horan’s office. He swings back around and hides behind the wall. He clutches the files closer to his chest and slowly shifts his body so he can see the boy sat in the once vacant assistants chair.

Harry can see from across the room that the boy has cheekbones and a jaw sharper than glass. He’s never seen anyone quite as beautiful as the boy across the room. He tugs at his collar and adjusts his clip on tie before sliding out from behind the wall.

He begins walking towards the new secretaries desk and hopes that his hair is in place and that his feet don’t twist into each other and cause him to trip.

“Hi, I’m Harry,” Harry says as he drops the folders on top of the desk. “You’re new. Well you’re not new because I’m sure that’s not your name, but you’re still new.” Harry pauses to think for a moment before smiling broadly down at the boy. He’s looking at him unimpressed and Harry wonders if his tie is too bold for this guy’s likings. Harry notices the other male is wearing simple black pants and a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up to show his tattoos. He’s also got the top couple buttons undone showing off a pair of bright red lips on his chest. Harry gulps and averts his eyes back up to the other boys. “So what is your name?”

The other boy looks at him before pointing towards a nameplate at the front part of his desk. Harry takes a step back and sees the name Zayn Malik etched in gold against tacky fake wood.

“Zayn. Hmm, that’s interesting. I’ve never heard that before. It suits you.”

Zayn nods his head and picks up the folders that Harry had dropped down and walks into Mr. Horan’s office without a word.

Harry smiles because he thinks, for a first encounter, it went really well.

~~~

After work Harry rushes home in time to see Liam setting dinner down on the table. He runs inside and throws himself onto Liam with a wide smile on his face.

“I met a boy.” Harry says.

Liam shrugs Harry off of him and into a chair before sitting down across from him. “What does that mean?” Liam asks hesitantly.

Harry picks up his knife and fork and begins cutting the chicken on his plate. “Well, you know how my boss has been looking for a new secretary slash assistant? He hired one. And he’s so pretty. Like, I thought I was looking at the statue of David for a moment. Well until I realized that’s in Florence and made of marble and naked. But minus the location, compositional make up and the fact the boy was wearing clothing I think he was a statue, a breathing statue.”

Liam nods. “So did you talk to him?”

“Obviously, I wasn’t just going to not introduce myself,” Harry says with an eye roll, “He doesn’t talk much. He didn’t tell me his name only pointed towards his nameplate. But that’s just another point to prove he’s a statue so I’m not mad. I like being right." 

Liam looks at Harry and Harry notices that his expression is sad. Almost pitying. “You like him, don’t you?”

Harry shrugs his shoulders. “I don’t know him, but I will. I’d like to think so at least.” And when Liam gives him a skeptical look does he open up. “He’s really pretty and I mean, I’ve never had a boyfriend before. Wouldn’t he be a good start?”

Liam smiles at him and reaches a hand out to cup Harry’s that is lying on the table. “Yeah, I’m sure he’s great. Just don’t get your hopes up. Okay? I mean if this doesn’t work out I don’t want you to be upset.”

“Liam, you need to have more faith in me.” Harry stabs at the chicken on his plate as he thinks. “I’m going to court him." 

Harry smiles when Liam groans.

~~~

The next day at work Harry makes sure that he pops onto Mr. Horan’s floor as much as he can. He spends the day running around asking employees if there is anything they need from the boss, even if it’s something as simple as the printer being out of toner.

(Harry checked them all and they’re all up to stock).

Finally after lunch he gets a fresh batch of mail to deliver. And as always, the first stop is the 28th floor.

When Harry gets up there he sees that Zayn has his feet up on the desk and is casually flipping through a magazine. Harry knows that the assistants are actually supposed to do work and not just sit there. He’s worried for Zayn. The last person to occupy that desk was fired for snapping their gum too loudly. Mr. Horan is a bit of an ass, but he likes the job done. And he wants it done well.

“You shouldn’t just be sitting here,” Harry whispers and looks around to see if anyone is watching. “Mr. Horan does not like when people don’t work. He’ll be really mad when he sees this. I think you should maybe turn on your computer to at least look like you’ve done something.” 

Zayn sets down his magazine and looks at Harry with an interesting smirk on his face. Harry takes a step back and rubs his sweating palms against his corduroy pants. “Do you not know how to work the computer? I’ve applied to be an IT guy but I haven’t heard back about the position. I think Mr. Horan likes me in the mail department.”

Zayn nods his head but doesn’t say anything. Harry is starting to wonder if Zayn can speak English. Or maybe he’s deaf, or a mute. He’s feels like an ass for always talking to Zayn, especially if he has no idea what is being said to him, but he smiles politely and steps around Zayn’s desk to start up the desktop.

He finishes with the computer and hands Zayn the stack of envelopes addressed to Niall Horan.

“Have a great day.” Harry says as he grips the cart to continue delivering mail. 

~~~

It’s the same thing three days later except now it’s during his lunch break and he sees Zayn sitting alone at a table in the café down the street. Normally, Harry isn’t the type of person to impose on someone else’s meal, but he is trying to court Zayn, so he makes an exception.

For the most part Zayn doesn’t even blink an eye when Harry pulls the chair from across him out and doesn’t seem to notice when Harry sets his tray down with a loud thump. He doesn’t look up until Harry clears his throat. And Zayn sends him a polite smile before going back to his sandwich. 

“I notice that you have pickles on your sandwich,” Harry says as he bites into his own food. “That’s interesting because I was actually just reading an article last night about how pickles helped Christopher Columbus keep his troops alive when they made their journey over to America. I mean, it wasn’t really him, it was actually another man, I can’t remember his name but he used pickles to help them get Vitamin C. So if you’re thinking about boating to another country you should bring yourself a jar of pickles.”

Zayn stares at him for a moment before barking out with laughter. He has to clamp a hand over his mouth but Harry doesn’t miss the way his mouth opens wide and how he can see all of his teeth or that his eyes wrinkle in the most adorable way. And it’s a funny word to associate someone as beautiful as Zayn is but Harry thinks it’s fitting.

Harry marks it down as progress.

~~~

It’s the next week, on Wednesday, and Harry has had a feeling all day that things just aren’t going to be good. His stomach has been turning and churning in anticipation.

And it’s when Nick, the douchey head of Communications, throws his door open and hits Harry in the face, that Harry’s suspicions of a bad day are confirmed. The door hits him with a sickening crack, fortunately, or unfortunately depending on your point of view, the sound of the crack isn’t from Harry’s face. No, it’s from his glasses. They’ve snapped just on the bridge of his nose.

It forces Harry to have to tape his glasses back together. It’s itchy and unpleasant but Harry can’t really afford to buy a new pair at the moment. But he’s willing to live with it. The door hitting his face could have been worse. Harry is always someone who likes to see the positives in life. Besides he likes these glasses. They go with the brown dress shoes he likes to wear all the time.

And it’s really not a problem until he’s forced to enter the conference room, where Mr. Horan is holding a meeting with all the department heads, to pass out paperwork. Mr. Horan is sitting at the head of the table watching Harry intently. Sitting next to him is Zayn and Harry waves at him excitedly when their eyes meet.

Zayn’s lips turn up a quarter of an inch and Harry categorizes it with the other progresses he’s made. 

“Harry, stay here. We’re going to have paperwork for you to send over to Mr. Tomlinson later.” Mr. Horan says and Harry nods his head frantically as he goes to stand behind him. 

Harry expects to be delivering paperwork. What he doesn’t expect is a room full of men in suits laughing at him for the state of his glasses. For some reason Nick arrived at the board meeting and promptly started laughing when he noticed Harry at the end of the room.

The entire room settles with him in a fit of laughter as Nick recounts his story. How he had thrown the door open in haste and it slammed straight into Harry’s face. He tries to reenact how Harry had acted so he holds his hands over his face and hops around shouting ‘ow my glasses’ and it throws the room into a fit of hysterics.

The story isn’t funny; him breaking Harry’s glasses wasn’t funny to begin with. It’s not even close to being a witty joke but everyone laughs and starts mocking him as they ask him about the obvious tape. But his glasses become old news when they notice his navy button up and sweater vest.

Harry looks down at his burnt orange vest with bright green turtles on it. It was something that Liam had bought him. He’s not wearing a tie today so he was feeling a bit self-conscious coming into work. And the people laughing at him are only worsening the self-depreciating thoughts he was having.

He looks over towards Zayn and sees nothing but pity in his expression.

He can feel the tears beginning to form in his eyes so he storms out of the room and heads home early.

~~~

Liam finds him curled up on the couch in a ball and crying into a gallon of chocolate ice cream.

He’s come home with Louis and he immediately drops his boyfriend’s hand to rush over towards his best friend. Harry holds onto the ice cream and Liam as he cries into his best friends shoulder. He feels a hand on his knee and looks over to see Louis looking at him sadly. “You were supposed to be bringing me paperwork today, and you never came. What happened?”

Harry cries harder when he realizes that he’s fucked up his job. He wonders if anyone but Louis noticed that he didn’t deliver them anything. But he forgets about that so he can tell them about his crush on Zayn and how it keeps getting worse. And how Nick hit him in the face with a door. And how his boss had him wait in the room while they had a meeting but the meeting was mostly them laughing at him. How he turned into the butt of their jokes. 

Louis leaves in the middle of his explanation to go and make them some tea. Harry doesn’t want tea. He tells Liam that. He tells Liam that he’s been trying so hard with Zayn and how he thought things were going okay. That Zayn still hasn’t really spoken to him but he’s been cracking small smiles.

How he thought that maybe, just maybe, Zayn was beginning to feel the same way towards him.

He explains in great detail the freckle on the side of Zayn’s nose and how Michelangelo chiseled his cheekbones. How everyday he finds more evidence that Zayn really is the statue of David. 

Harry knows he doesn’t have a shot in hell with someone like Zayn, but the little side smiles Zayn gives him when Harry trips over his feet as he’s walking towards Zayn or when he dropped a cup of coffee in the middle of the elevator or when he has his little one-sided conversations each day in front of Zayn’s desk, Harry thinks those are the moments that give him the tiny ounce of hope that Zayn could like him.

And Liam agrees that yeah, maybe, Zayn is as interested as Harry is. And Harry hopes Liam isn’t just saying that because Harry is crying and eating his weight in Ben and Jerry’s.

And later Harry is struck with an even deeper sadness when he watches his best friend curl into his boyfriend as they pass him another carton and a new spoon.

Harry’s alone. And has no one. Not even Liam, not fully. 

~~~

Harry brings Liam to work and holds onto Liam’s head as he forces him to look at Zayn from around the same corner he stands at everyday as he works up the courage to approach the boy. Liam’s jaw drop and Harry nods his head so fast he almost loses his glasses. 

“Wow,” Liam breathes as he turns around to face Harry. “He’s prettier than a sunset.”

Harry nods again, this time holding onto his glasses to keep them from slipping, “I know. I—told you he’s perfect. He’s shy though, but I’m working on it.”

Liam peeks around the corner again and turns back to Harry frowning, “I don’t think he’s that shy.” 

“What do you mean?” Harry asks as he slowly looks around the corner. His smile drops when he sees Zayn talking and laughing to Mr. Horan. His smile is wide and it reaches his eyes and it’s nothing like the bored expression he keeps getting every time he tries talking to Zayn. 

“Harry, I’m sorry,” Liam says as he tries to reach a hand out to comfort Harry.

Harry pulls his shoulders away and lifts up his glasses so he can wipe the tears that are forming in his eyes. He shrugs his shoulders and avoids meeting Liam’s eyes as he walks off to go and finish sorting the mail. 

~~~ 

Harry lies in bed that night and thinks about how stupid he’s made himself look over the last five months.

How everyday he’s gone up to Zayn’s desk and delivered files, coffee and mail. He’s tried everyday to get Zayn to talk to him but no words leave the boys mouth. The most Harry has gotten from him were small little half smiles. Or just the other day in the conference room, how everyone had laughed and he went home and cried himself to sleep. And the whole time Zayn sat there looking at him. 

He wonders how stupid he looks in his attempted efforts to get noticed by Zayn by trying to come off as witty and charming.

He pulls out his phone and texts Liam asking if he can borrow Louis’ clothes. Liam replies and asks him why. Harry ignores him and begins thinking of ways that he can make himself be anyone other than himself.

Being himself means people laughing at him, people ignoring him, people thinking he’s weird and not worthy of their time. Being himself means that someone like Zayn wouldn’t pay him a second glance.

~~~

It takes Harry forty minutes longer than normal to get ready in the morning. He has Louis do his hair who ends up letting it fall into its natural curls but styling it up in the front. It reminds Harry of Zayn and how his hair stands tall and proud every day.

He’s forced into Louis’ clothes, which are all a bit too small for him. His ankles stick out from the bottom of his pant legs and the shirts are so tight they clutch his skin showing off every line and detail of his chest and arms. He ditched his glasses and instead is forced to walk around in a cloudy state.

He’s uncomfortable, but based on the blurry image from his mirror this morning he thinks he might just pass as decently attractive. It’s only a step above where he thinks he was before. But hopefully this is enough to get Zayn’s attention.

He’ll do anything to get Zayn’s attention.

He thinks it might be working when he walks into work and hears people whispering about his appearance. He has a feeling these whispers aren’t like the ones he normally hears, the ones that leave people laughing behind their hands. No this is the kind of attention he sees people get in movies. 

He delivers all of the envelopes he has waiting for him and gathers files and folders and flash drives that need to be delivered to Mr. Horan. Everyone keeps smiling at him and he thinks it might be the first time anyone in the office has actually touched him. 

He believes everything is going good until he slams into Zayn’s desk to drop off the paperwork. Zayn looks up at him with an odd expression. Harry can’t tell which one of the people in his vision is the real Zayn but they both have the same face either way so. Without his glasses his vision is foggy and it’s so off that he’s seeing Zayn’s head shift in odd ways.

He holds the papers out and says, “these are for Niall, and can you make sure he gets them?”

Zayn looks up at the stack of folders in Harry’s hands before looking up at his face. “Where are your glasses?” He asks. And when Harry does nothing more than stare at him he continues, “and what are you wearing? What happened to those cute vests you owned?" 

Harry drops the folders onto Zayn’s desk and begins to slowly back away. He makes it thirty feet away before he hears Zayn say, “I don’t know why you changed but I liked it when your hair was combed and when you wore the ties. And the sweaters, I think my favorite was the one you wore last month, the one with the turtles on it. You don’t need to change, Harry. ” He smiles at Harry before gathering the folders and retreating into Niall’s office.

Harry runs back to the same corner he likes to watch Zayn from and tries to process what he’s just learned.

Zayn likes his hair when he gels it into a part and combs it over to the left. He likes when Harry wears the ties given to him by his grandma. He likes the sweaters he inherited from his Uncle. He even likes his glasses.

So maybe, just maybe, Zayn likes him. Likes likes him. And Harry never imagined that it would be him before the make over.

~~~

“Liam, can you tell me which vest works better for my outfit tomorrow.” Liam nods and looks up from his book.

Harry is holding up two different sweater vests. One is made of wool and the color of smoked salmon. It has purple pin stripes. He informs Liam that he has socks that match and he thinks it’ll go nicely with his skin tone.

The other one is a blend material that’s slightly less itchy. It’s the color of wine and has a picture of a cat chasing a ball of yarn in the center. The cat is a ginger, Harry’s favorite kind, and the yarn is the same color as Harry’s eyes. He tells Liam that he’s really not sure if a cat is professional enough for his job but he has a tie that matches the color of the cat.

Liam looks at them and gives Harry a polite smile, “you should wear the one with the cat. It’ll bring out your eyes.”

Harry smiles and tosses the salmon colored vest off to the side. He lies the others down gently on the back of the dining room chair before turning to Liam, “I’m asking Zayn on a date.”

~~~ 

Harry takes a deep breath before he rounds the corner leading to Zayn’s desk. He doesn’t have any file folders or envelopes in his hands. It’s just him. The office is closing in fifteen minutes and Harry can see that Zayn is already beginning to pack up. He takes a deep breath and stomps over towards Zayn.

“Hi Zayn,” Harry says as he leans up against the desk in a pose he believes to be seductive. Zayn looks up at him and smiles before throwing his bag over his shoulder. He doesn't say anything. “I would like to, um, propose that you go one a-uh-date with me.”

Harry smiles at bats his eyes a little and waits for Zayn to answer. He doesn’t for a minute and it causes Harry to deflate and takes a tiny step back.

“I mean if you’re busy tonight we don’t have too. I was just thinking maybe if you wanted to go somewhere with me we could label it as a date but if you’re not looking for a date then we could just call it going somewhere together. But if you’re not interested in that we could just not.”

Zayn nods his head and the corner of his mouth quirks up slightly, “alright.” 

He stops and blinks.

“Wait, what?”

Zayn smiles, and it’s the first full smile that Harry has ever seen from him and it makes his head spin. “I said alright, I’ll go on a date with you.”

~~~

Harry takes him to the aquarium. He wants to make it a date that Zayn will remember. And if he’s being honest he didn’t actually think he’d get a yes out of the other boy so he went to the first place he thought of.

He makes sure to hold every door open when he can for Zayn while he struggles with what to do with his hands. He’s never done this before. And when Louis takes Liam out Harry always sees that they’re holding hands or Louis has his hands on the small of Liam’s back. Harry settles with clasping his hands in front of his own body.

He walks Zayn through and mutters random facts about the animals. Zayn doesn’t talk, not much. He’s quiet but Harry learns he’s never been in an aquarium before and that he has three sisters back at home. He learns that working for Mr. Horan is only temporary because Zayn wants to sing.

Zayn doesn’t share much but Harry thinks he’s fascinating.

Harry pulls him into his favorite room in the entire building. It’s dimly lit but three out of four walls are solid glass that allows you to look into the tank where the dolphins are kept. There isn’t anyone in the room so Harry walks up towards the center and stares in awe as the animals glide past him.

And when Zayn joins him he reaches out and intertwines their fingers together. The action is simple but Harry can’t remember the last person outside of Liam and his mother who have voluntarily touched him and he feels like he’s soaring. Zayn isn’t looking at him but rather at the dolphins as they twirl past the glass in front of them.

And when Harry finally turns his head back towards the tank that's illuminating the room he feels Zayn press a soft kiss to his cheek.

~~~

It’s three days since their date and Harry hasn’t gotten Zayn to talk to him again. Harry’s a bit thrown off when he shows up at work everyday and Zayn doesn’t say anything back to him. Zayn will smile at him and go back to whatever it is he was doing before.

Harry’s discouraged and hopes that he didn’t read too much into things. It’s not like Zayn owes him anything. It’s not something has to come out of their date but Harry had been hoping that there could have been another.

And Harry’s hopes for another date are beginning to dwindle as the days tick on and Zayn refuses to acknowledge him.

But that’s until this evening when Harry is cleaning up the mailroom and putting everything back where it belongs. He hears a soft knock on the door and when he turns around he’s surprised to see Zayn standing there with a sheepish smile on his face.

“Hi,” Harry says as he fumbles with the stack of loose paper in his arms. He stares at Zayn as he shoves them in the recycling bin in the back of the room.

Zayn takes a step in the room and glances around. Harry feels nervous because this is his territory and this is the room that he’s in charge of taking care of. No one ever steps foot in here for no reason. Harry thinks Zayn is probably the same.

“Do you want to go out to dinner tonight?” Zayn asks as he finally locks eyes with Harry.

Harry swallows at stares at him. “I, um, yes. But, I didn’t think you wanted to talk to me. We haven’t really, ya know, spoken to me since the aquarium. So I thought maybe you were done with me. Like it was a pity date or something.”

Zayn smiles at him. And it’s one of the ones that lights up his entire face and leaves Harry breathless. “That’s nonsense.” Zayn takes a couple steps forward until he’s standing directly in front of Harry. He reaches out and cups Harry’s face in his hands. “It wasn’t pity. I had fun. And I’m definitely not done with you.”

“You’re not?”

“No. Now are you coming to dinner or not?”

~~~

It’s not a restaurant that Harry would choose. The lights are dimmed and there is a bar in the back with a light that shifts between greens and blues and reds and it changes the atmosphere of the entire place every few minutes. It’s loud but not loud enough that Harry has to shout at Zayn or his brain feels like it’s being rattled. The tables are shoved close to one another and it leaves room for the booths scattered across the walls.

Zayn seems to know the owner and they’re given a booth towards the back, but away from the bar, that sits in the corner. It allows them room to watch the other patrons. They’re not handed a menu and that causes Harry to frown but Zayn informs him that he already ordered for both of them when he set up the reservations.

Harry’s aware of the looks that people are giving them. They clearly don’t think that someone like Harry should be with someone like Zayn. Not on a date. Not in a romantic setting where Zayn slides closer to him, closer than strictly necessary, in the booth so they can brush their knees together every few moments. Harry knows that Zayn and he don’t look like they belong together. Zayn with his skintight black pants and leather jacket to match. His arms are covered in tattoos his hair is swept up in a casual grace that doesn’t give away the time spent perfecting it. Everything about Zayn stands out against Harry’s ironed charcoal grey dress pants that don’t fit properly in the legs so his socks poke through at his ankles. Or his maroon cable knit sweater or Harry’s hair that has been parted and slicked to the side.

They don’t fit together and it’s obvious to everyone in the room but it doesn’t stop Zayn from draping his arm around Harry’s shoulder and listening intently as Harry rambles on about the complexities of fixing your own washer and dryer. And it’s not proper date talk but Harry is still bothered by the fact Louis broke the appliances last week.

Their food arrives and it’s two giant bowls of pasta and it smells so good that Harry’s mouth begins to water. He doesn’t miss the way that Zayn smiles at him when he talks with his mouth full about how wonderful the meal is.

They leave the restaurant with their hands linked together. Their cars are still parked at work. It’s a short walk and Harry forces Zayn to tell him about the things that interest him.

“I like to draw.” Zayn says as tightens his hold on Harry. “And sing. I really love reading too. But I haven’t found a book that I really like in years. They’re all the same and I really like when things are different. Kind of like you.” Zayn says and Harry looks over to see Zayn smiling at him. “You’re different from everyone else.”

Harry blushes and tucks his face into his shoulder.

They get to their cars faster than Harry would have liked. He frowns as he looks down on his little silver car like it betrayed him. They stall as Harry fiddles with his keys not wanting the night to be over. He wants Zayn to say something or to demand that he stays. Because Harry would, he’d wait in the parking lot all night with Zayn until the sun rose and he was forced to go home.

He sighs when he realizes that none of that is going to happen. So he turns around and uses his key to unlock the car door and pull it open. But Zayn grabs his wrist to stop him from getting in. He steps up on the balls of his feet so he can press a light kiss to Harry’s lips. Harry freezes and runs his fingers across his lip where they’re tingling from the contact. Zayn reaches up and runs his own fingers across Harry’s cheek and brushes his hair off of his face.

“Good night, Harry.” He says as he reaches up once more to kiss Harry again. This time he press his lips down firmer and gently pulls on Harry’s bottom lip so it juts out when he pulls away. He smiles at him one last time before turning and walking towards his own car.

~~~

Harry runs inside of his apartment at top speed when he finally makes it back home. He throws the door open and doesn’t bother checking to see if it closes behind him. The TV is running and he sees Liam stick his head up off the couch and smile at him before dropping back down.

Harry runs forward and throws himself over the back of the couch, landing on Liam and Louis with a thud. He rolls over so he’s facing them and smiles widely. They’re both groaning about his knees and elbows and his limbs that really are just too much for his body but Harry rolls his eyes at them and smiles wider.

“Do I look different?” Harry asks.

Liam and Louis look at each other before scanning him briefly. They both shake their heads and Harry pouts at them until they begin rattling off things that could have changed about Harry since he saw them last.

“You’re both wrong. I’ve been kissed.” And Harry says it so loudly and proud that Liam shoves him and he manages to fall off the couch and onto the floor.

“You’ve been what?”

“Kissed. I went out with Zayn and he kissed me. Someone kissed me.”

Liam looks at him with his eyes wide and his mouth hung open. Louis keeps looking back and forth between the two in an apparent struggle on who he should address first. He goes with Harry and says, “I thought he was ignoring you?” He reaches out and rubs Liam on the back until his eyes flutter and his mouth closes.

“Well I thought so too but then he came down to the mailroom and asked me to dinner. He asked me out. And then he kissed me. He kissed me twice.” Harry sits up and looks down at his lap. “I’ve never done this before. The dinner or the kissing.” He looks up at his friends and bites his lip. “I don’t know what to do next.”

~~~

Their relationship explodes after their date in the restaurant. Harry finds himself going off with Zayn after work every night. And every night he comes home later and later, much to the dismay of Liam who has sat him down firm instructions that he is to bring Zayn home tonight. And Harry nods his head with wide eyes and apologizes to Liam for never being home.

So the next day Harry storms into work and goes straight to the twenty-eighth floor so he can talk to Zayn. He’s shaking in the elevator with nerves because this is probably how people feel when they ask their boyfriends to come home to meet their parents. And Zayn isn’t his boyfriend. He’s just someone that he goes on dates with and kisses, well he never initiates the kissing but he’s not going to deny Zayn, but they’re not boyfriends.

He hasn’t asked Zayn yet and Zayn hasn’t implied that he wants to go down that road with Harry so he’s letting the conversation wait. He’ll wait for Zayn to ask him.

When the elevator finally gets to the floor Harry takes a deep breath before stepping off and making his way towards Zayn’s desk. He suppresses an eye roll when he turns the corner and sees Zayn leaning back in his chair with his feet propped up on the desk.

 

Zayn looks up when he hears Harry approaching and he smiles at him, it’s soft and it makes Harry’s stomach churn in delight.

“Hey, babe,” Zayn says as he lowers his feet and leans over the desk.

And Harry stills and blinks at Zayn, because he didn’t know they were on pet name turns. He wonders if it was a slip of the tongue or just Zayn testing the waters. Harry shakes his head. “Liam demands that you come to our apartment,” he blurts out and Zayn frowns.

“Liam?”

“Oh, yeah he’s my roommate. We’ve been friends since grade school. He’s really nice. He’s got short shaved hair and sometimes he makes this face where he looks like a puppy and I mean, not a real puppy, but it’s very puppy-esque. And he’s got a boyfriend, Louis, you’ve probably seen him walking around because he, well I think, he’s a contact of Mr. Horan’s. I’m not sure,” Harry says in one breath. And he smiles at Zayn, “so yeah, you have to come to our apartment.”

Zayn nods his head, “and why do you I have to do that?”

Harry frowns and clasps his hands behind his back. “Well, I might have mentioned you to Liam, you know in passing, like oh hey yeah I know someone named Zayn, and he said you had to come over because he wants to meet the people who kiss me in parking lots.”

“Do you get kissed in parking lots often?”

“NO,” Harry practically shouts, “No, nope, this is my first time. Ever. Which, is why you have to meet Liam. He wants to sit you down for a talk. I’m not supposed to tell you that but it’s going to happen.”

Zayn smiles and nods his head in Harry’s direction. And Harry really likes it when Zayn smiles. It makes him want to kiss Zayn again, but he’s not sure he should push his luck so he’ll wait until Zayn decides to kiss him again.

“Alright,” Zayn says with a casual shrug as he throws his feet back up on the desk. “I’ll go.”

~~~

They’re sitting in Harry and Liam’s dining room and Harry is fully aware of the awkward tension that’s suffocating the room. They’ve been sat at the table for fifteen minutes and no one has said anything.

Harry thinks that Zayn and his calculating stares; pouty mouth, leather jacket and tattoos might be intimidating Liam. It causes Harry to giggle behind his hand every time he sees Liam go to open his mouth but then close it as he shakes his head. Because Liam might look like a puppy but Zayn is a puppy. He’s cute and harmless and wonderful in every way.

Liam had already tried lecturing Zayn on what it is he’s doing and if he knows how important Harry is. But Zayn had simply nodded his head and said he wouldn’t be here if Harry hadn’t meant something.

He had explained it and listened to Liam with a smile and his arm draped over Harry’s shoulders as they sat on the couch. Harry doesn’t know what to do with his own body so he remained still and smiled at Zayn when the other boy shifted his attention away from Liam and towards him.

But that was earlier, and now they’re sat at the table with half eaten plates of lasagna in front of them and only the sound of their breathing floating throughout the room.

“Did you know that lasagna in Europe used to not contain tomatoes? Not until Columbus made it to America, isn’t that interesting?” Harry says as he scoops another forkful into his mouth.

He looks over and sees that Zayn is smiling at him. “Do you have a fascination with Columbus or something?” Harry tilts his head because he doesn’t know what Zayn is talking about. “That one time you started talking about pickles you had mentioned Columbus as well." 

Harry blushes and Liam barks out a laugh that causes Zayn to jump.

“You talked to him about pickles?” Liam says with tears in his eyes. “Oh god, how did you ever get him to agree to go on a date with you?”

Harry shrugs his shoulders and goes back to eating. Zayn frowns at Liam. “Harry is actually a really good person and he’s intelligent. I happen to like intelligence in a man.” He turns to Harry with a devilish smirk on his face. “It’s sexy.”

Harry’s eyes go wide and he gulps. His palms immediately begin sweating so he decides to launch into a discussion on the properties of table salt and their benefits on the body.

~~~ 

“He really cares about you,” Liam says one night when he pauses the television and turns to Harry.

“Who?”

“Zayn, he really cares about you. I was skeptical at first. I mean he’s kind of a badass that everyone respects and is a little bit afraid of and you’re, no offense, a massive dork. I just didn’t think he actually cared about you as much as he does.”

Harry blushes and tugs at the bottom of his shirt. “Why do you say that?”

Liam sighs. “Harry, he thought it was adorable when you talked to him about pickles and about tomatoes and salt. He listened to you ramble on for twenty minutes about snail mucus with a smile on his face while you watched National Geographic. A genuine smile and he didn’t roll his eyes once. I rolled my eyes three times. And then last night he spent the night and the only noises Louis and I heard was the sound of you telling him about sleep studies.” Liam takes a deep breath and shifts his body so he’s looking at Harry. “I think he’s really good for you.”

~~~

Harry is in the middle of organizing the mailroom before the end of his shift. He has a batch of things that need to be delivered first thing in the morning and he’s laying them out in order of importance and then in order of which floor they need to be sent to. He has a stack of paper that needs to be recycled still lying on the table along with a stalk of paper that needs to be shredded.

It’s a lot of work but nothing he can’t handle.

He hears a knock on his door and looks up to see Nick Grimshaw standing there. “Hi Mr. Grimshaw is there something you need?” Nick doesn't say anything just continues to look at Harry. “I have a stack of files here for your meeting tomorrow but the note says you won’t need them until eleven. Did you want them now?”

Harry picks them up and holds them out to Nick.

“What’s it like?” Nick asks.

“What’s what like?”

“To be stuck here because Niall doesn’t think you’re competent enough to take another job. What’s that like?” 

Harry swallows and shakes his head. “Mr. Horan and I have talked about the possibility of a transfer. He’s been considering it especially since Zayn, his assistant, put in a word for me that I’d be better suited elsewhere.”

“That’s another thing, people have been talking. They keep telling me that you’re spending an awful lot of time with Zayn. He isn’t really your type, or should I say that you’re not his. Wonder what he wants with someone like you.”

Harry goes to open his mouth but is cut off by the sound of another voice. “What’s going on here?” Harry turns and sees Zayn standing in the doorway looking at Nick with venom in his eyes. “Why are you bothering him?”

Nick shrugs his shoulders and picks up the folders that Harry is still holding out for him. “Nothing just having a little chat. Congratulating him on the his possible transfer and new relationship.”

“Really? Because it sounded like you were being a dick for no reason.” Nick shrugs his shoulders and goes to make his way out of the room. Zayn grabs him by the shirt collar before he can go and shoves him into the wall. “I don’t want you talking to him. I don’t want you down in this room. You can run all your file and mail pick up through me from now on, got it?" 

“Mr. Horan would never allow it,” Nick says.

Zayn makes a considering face before saying, “you’re probably right but this room is loaded with security cameras and once Niall sees that you’re harassing employees because you’re an insecure dick I’m sure he’d be okay with it.” Zayn smiles at Nick before letting go of him and shoving him out of the room.

Harry is still frozen on the other side. It’s the most he’s ever heard Zayn say to anyone in such a short span of time. Harry has also never seen him angry. It’s not something he wants to see again.

Zayn turns and looks at Harry, “c’mon I’m taking you home.” He steps forward and grabs Harry’s hand and pulls him out of the office and into his car.

~~~

They’re lying down on Harry’s bed on their sides facing each other and Harry can feel his heart slamming in his chest.

Zayn leans forward and nudges Harry into a kiss. It’s slow at first with just their lips meeting and staying pressed against each other until Zayn adds a little bit more pressure and pulls away. He smiles at Harry and reaches out and runs his fingers through Harry’s hair.

Harry melts into the touch and nearly forgets about the asshole at work. But he doesn’t and he can’t. “Why did you get so angry at Nick?” Harry asks as he nudges Zayn’s hand with his head.

Zayn leans forward and kisses him again, just as gently as he did the first time. “You don't deserve to be spoken to like that and Nick’s an asshole that Niall has been waiting to fire. It’s only a matter of time. Maybe you could take Nick’s job when he leaves.”

“I don’t want Nick’s job.” 

“Why not?”

“I like what I do and I get to come and see you multiple times a day.”

Zayn lowers his hand from Harry’s hair and runs his knuckles across Harry’s cheek. “You’re something else, you know? I don’t think I’ve met anyone as wonderful as you.” He leans forward again so he can kiss Harry and just as slow just as delicate as the last one.

Harry pulls away and blinks at Zayn slowly. “What are we? What are we doing?”

“Well,” Zayn says, “I was under the impression that you were my boyfriend and I was your boyfriend and that we were kissing. I think we should get back to the kissing.”

Harry smiles before surging forward and connecting their mouths once again. It takes a moment after they’re connected for Zayn to slowly begin to move his mouth. Harry has no idea what he’s supposed to do but he mimics the actions that Zayn is doing and brings his hand around to wrap around the back of Zayn’s neck so he can gently pull him closer.

And Harry feels a new world open up with Zayn runs his tongue along the seam of Harry’s lips before he gently works Harry’s mouth open. And Harry gasps at the feeling of Zayn’s tongue inside his mouth but he can’t imagine anything being better than this.

It’s nine months down the line from their first date. It’s their first time together, as one. It’s the first time for Harry, ever. It’s painful at first and Harry has to be coaxed into it. But he wants it. He wants everything with Zayn and he’s willing to wait through the pain until he’s finally met with the pleasure.

And Harry’s hit with the realization that this is how they’re relationship had started. The dull ache from wanting and needing Zayn and how it had slowly turned into an overwhelming sensation of keeping Zayn.

And afterwards when Zayn is sleeping soundly next to him with his arm sprawled out above his head and the other throw loosely across Harry does Harry begin to think about just how much he really loves Zayn.

How they work together to be everything the other one isn’t.

Harry leans forward and presses a careful kiss to the corner of Zayn’s mouth. And realizes that Zayn is careful and quiet but he loves fiercely.

He loves Harry fiercely. And Harry is glad that his days are not longer exactly the same as they were.

**Author's Note:**

> Here's my [tumblr](http://www.zarryzouis.tumblr.com) :).


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